Missouri’s Agriculture Director today completes a tour of northern Missouri where drought conditions have ruined crops and dryed up pastures. Peter Hofherr has taken the past two weeks to get out of Jefferson City and hit the road, first traveling to farms in northwest Missouri – hit the hardest the past couple of years by the dry conditions then moving over to north-central and northeast Missouri, also suffering from lack of rain. All of northern Missouri received rain over the weekend, with some parts receiving substantial rainfall. But Hofherr is quick to point out that a two-year drought doesn’t end with one substantial rainfall. The United States Department of Agriculture has yet to decide whether 39 counties, mostly in northwest, north-central and western Missouri will be declareddisaster areas so that farmers there can become eligible for low-interest loans. Also, Governor Bob Holden is considering an expansion of the request and may soon ask for the entire state to be declared a disaster area dueto the drought. Hofherr is scheduled to visit Gasconade and Franklin Counties today.
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